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CIVIC HERALD
HR 695 · 119th Congress · HouseEnacted

Medal of Honor Act

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

In plain language: This legislation significantly increases the special monthly pension paid to living Medal of Honor recipients, linking their benefits to higher-tier military disability compensation rates rather than a lower fixed baseline. It also specifies that recipients cannot receive a duplicate cost-of-living adjustment in any year their payment is already increased. To help offset the cost of the larger pensions, the bill extends through January 2033 an existing rule that caps monthly VA pensions at $90 for certain unmarried veterans without dependents who live in Medicaid-funded nursing homes.

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Provisionalunreviewed: impact, issue tags, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—Not determinable from the text provided; the text does not specify the number of living Medal of Honor recipients or veterans affected by the Medicaid nursing home pension cap.
Fiscal magnitude—Not determinable from the text provided; the bill references statutory formulas in section 1114 of title 38 and extends a cap under section 5503 without providing appropriation or total expenditure amounts.
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provisional · pending review18rigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Spending vs. restraintElder & long-term care−15Welfare & anti-poverty−12

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Provisional: our reading of who it affects, pending review.

Who it helps

  • Living Medal of Honor recipientsReceives an increased monthly special pension tied to a higher benchmark rate of disability compensation rather than a fixed rate of $1,406.73 (Sec. 3(1)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Veterans and surviving family members receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home careSubject to an extended $90 monthly cap on their VA pension payments through January 31, 2033, prolonging an existing limitation beyond its prior November 30, 2031 expiration date (Sec. 4).provisional
  • Department of Veterans AffairsMust update and administer the higher special pension rate for Medal of Honor recipients, enforce the restriction on duplicate cost-of-living increases, and continue enforcing the $90 pension cap through early 2033 (Sec. 3, Sec. 4).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

Provisional: our reading of what the bill does, pending review.

  1. Increases the monthly special pension paid to living Medal of Honor recipients by tying the payment to a higher benchmark rate of veteran disability compensation rather than a fixed dollar amount.

    Sec. 3(1)provisional

  2. Prohibits an annual cost-of-living increase to the Medal of Honor special pension in any year the monthly amount was already increased by another change.

    Sec. 3(2)provisional

  3. Extends through January 31, 2033, the $90 monthly cap on Department of Veterans Affairs pension payments to certain veterans and surviving family members receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home care.

    Sec. 4provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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The record

How members voted on Medal of Honor Act.

Recorded roll calls on this bill, most recent first. Open one to see each member's position.

  • House · Feb 26, 2025 · 2/3 YEA-AND-NAY

    On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended · Passed

    Source →

Timeline

How it moved.

Show all 16 actions
  1. Dec 1, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-43.
  2. Dec 1, 2025Signed by President.
  3. Nov 25, 2025Presented to President.
  4. Nov 7, 2025Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. Nov 7, 2025Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7976-7977)
  6. Nov 7, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  7. Nov 7, 2025Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.
  8. Feb 27, 2025Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  9. Feb 26, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  10. Feb 26, 2025On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 0 (Roll no. 51). (text: CR H857)
  11. Feb 26, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 0 (Roll no. 51). (text: CR H857)
  12. Feb 26, 2025DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 695.
  13. Feb 26, 2025Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H857-859)
  14. Feb 26, 2025Mr. Bost moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  15. Jan 23, 2025Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  16. Jan 23, 2025Introduced in House
  1. Dec 1, 2025Became Public Law No: 119-43.
  2. Dec 1, 2025Signed by President.
  3. Nov 25, 2025Presented to President.
  4. Nov 7, 2025Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S7976-7977)
  5. Nov 7, 2025Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Feb 26, 2025Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  7. Feb 26, 2025On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 0 (Roll no. 51). (text: CR H857)
  8. Feb 26, 2025Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 424 - 0 (Roll no. 51). (text: CR H857)
  9. Jan 23, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 4 months ago

Cite this page

Civic Herald. “Medal of Honor Act (H.R. 695, 119th Congress).” https://civicherald.app/bills/119-hr-695. Congress.gov record as of Jul 13, 2026.

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